Kaspers Korner

The Arizona Cardinals finished an improbable playoff run, which culminated in a loss in the Superbowl.  Now, the Cardinals face the decision of bringing back quarterback Kurt Warner, or move on.

Warner will turn 38 in June and with the way Brett Farve performed at age 39 last season the Cardinals would be best to move on.

Warner had a history of injuries at the end of his run with the Saint Louis Rams.  That led to his departure from the Rams.

Warner was able to stay healthy behind a okay offensive line.  However, Warner is up there in football years and one good shot will end his season, or alter it completely like the way it did for Farve.

The Cardinals do have quarterback Matt Leinart waiting in the wings after watching Warner play for a season.  If that is not enough behind a possible future Hall of Fame quarterback, then Leinart will never be ready.

It may be a step back, but in the long run it benefits the team the most.

The Arizona Cardinals offense led the team to the Superbowl, which was headed up by quarterback Kurt Warner.

This year if the Cardinals are going to make it to the Superbowl it will be due to their defense.

People now know that if they are going to beat the Cardinals it is going to be through a consistent running attack that way to limit the Cardinals’ offense number of chaces.

So, that means it is up to the Cardinals defense to stop the running attacks of opponents. 

The problem is that the Cardinals rush defense was ranked 16th last year allowing 110 rushing yards per a game.

In the end without any improvement made to the defense the Cardinals will struggle to make the playoffs this year.

The Arizona Cardinals have been in control of their division for most of the year, and that is without a running game.  Sunday is the last chance for the Cardinals to get it going before the playoffs.

The Arizona Cardinals running attack is the worst in the league averaging barely over 71 yards a game.  Thanks to the performance of quarterback Kurt Warner they are in the playoffs. 

There is one common theme when it comes to the playoffs.  That being teams that make it to the Superbowl are able to run the ball, and stop the run.  The exception is when a team with such a great offense comes along like the Patriots last year.

The Cardinals are out of that mold as their running game is week, solid defense, and a great passing attack. 

However, there are two other teams with great running attacks, and great defenses in the New York Giants, and the Carolina Panthers. 

So, if they are going to get the running game going consistently it needs to be this weekend, because the playoffs start next week.  When they start it is win and go on, or lose and go home.  If they do not find it this week it will be most likely lose, and go home next week.

The Arizona Cardinals have found a starting quarterback for the short term in Kurt Warner.  The question is what will the Cardinals do after Warner retires.

Warner will be 38 when the season starts next year, and most likely has only a year, or two, left in the gas tank.  Warner even thought of retiring after the hit wide receiver Anquan Boldin took earlier in the year.

So, what will the team do once Warner decides to hang them up.  That decision will most likely be made after this season.

The team will first have to talk to Warner.  The reason for that is to see if he is going to come back next season.  If he doesn’t, then Leinart will be the starter next season, and the same goes for the 2010 season.

After that things will get a lot more complicated, because of Leinarts contract.

After the 2010 season Leinart will have completed his fifth year in the league.  That means his contract will most likely be up, since first round draft choices, like Leinart, get six year deals, but usually have the option to buy out the last year, thus making it five years.

What will happen is that most likely the same one in Green Bay.  After the 2009 season the team will force out Warner, because Leinart will be in his last season, and they need to see what they have in him after sitting on the bench for two years behind Warner.

As in Green Bay, once Leinart becomes the starter, after two years on the bench, he should be fine.

Hopefully the next time head coach Ken Wisenhunt will not be so quick to yank Leinart.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin earlier this year requested a trade.  At the end of the year he could get his wish as another teammate’s performance could allow it.

Wide receiver Steve Breaston is on pace for 75 catches, with 1,000 yards receiving.  What makes it remarkable is the Breaston is only in his second year.

Most wide receivers take three years to become this effective.  However, we are talking about the Cardinals who have a knack as of late to find wide receivers who are effective much quicker than most.

The emergence of Breaston allows the Cardinals to finally get rid of Boldin.  As of right now he has not been a problem, but that could change if he is still on the Cardinals roster next year.

For now the Cardinals must wait for Boldin to recover fully from a wicked hit in the head a couple of weeks ago against the New York Jets.

The Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Wisenhunt has named Kurt Warner the starter for the opening of the regular season, thus signaling the end possibly for quarterback Matt Leinart’s career.  The move could eventually get Wisenhunt shown the door.

Leinart had a horrible performance in a preseason game against the Oakland Raiders throwing for three interceptions.

According to the East Valley Tribune quarterback Kurt Warner had this to said of Leinart’s performance, “He just wasn’t feeling it.  We all have those nights.”

That is exactly the thing with Leinart.  Wisenhunt has been yanking him out every time he has a bad outing, or starts a game off bad.

Simply, Leinart has never had a fair shake with the Cardinals.  How can a  quarterback succeed if every time something is going wrong he is not given a chance to work through it.

In the end Leinart will move on to another team, and most likely will succeed there.  No quarterback even the likes of a young Tom Brady or Peyton Manning could survive under Wisenhunt.

The Arizona Cardinals earlier this year redid the contract of wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, because horrible negotiating resulted in him having a $18 and $20 million cap figures for this year, and next.  Thanks to that, and promises, Boldin cutting off contract talks with the Cardinals.

“After last year, I was promised a deal would get done before this season. But the season is here and obviously that hasn’t happened. I don’t want a deal. People may think I’m being funny, or just saying that to say that. But I’m just tired of it. I’m washing my hands of the whole situation,”  Boldin said.

Seriously, who in their right mind would promise a new contract by start of training camp, with Fitzgerald’s contract still looming.

Fitzgeralds contract was so big that they had to wait in resigning its own players.  Even now, the contract is the real reason as to why the two sides cannot get a deal done.

Many Cardinal Fans are upset with the fact that Boldin is wanting a new deal after only one year into the contract extension.  However, the fact of the matter is that the deal the Chicago Bears did with linebacker Brian Urlacher has set forth that if a contract is disprotionate to the markey place the player now has the right to demand a new contract. 

In the end the Cardinals and Boldin have to wait till next year.

Arizona Cardinals general manger Rod Graves earliers this offseason franchise tagged linebacker Carlos Dansby.   During negotiations Graves has contradicted himself, thus putting him in a bad spot.

We certainly have a high opinion of Karlos and his value to our team,” said Graves.  That opinion led the team slapping Dansby with the one year Franchise tag.   The one year deal is worth $8.065 million this year for linebackers.

However, when in negotiations with Dansby agent, Kirk Wood, Graves offered contracts of only six million a year.  Which, is not even close to the Franchise tag.

There is only one way that can describe Graves during these negotiations, and that is stupid.  If you slap someone with a certain tag, then common sense would lead you to believe that a long term deal needs to be with in that range when it comes yearly average salary.

There is no excuse for Graves not getting a deal done.  If the deal that Graves offered was a little more than eight million per a year, with a little be more guarantee money than what Calvin Pace got from the Jets, it would already be done.

What Graves did was just plain dumb, and insulting.  The Cardinals could have gotten Dansby at a relatively fair price.  However, the insulting contact offer has raised the bar for what the dollar amount will be to get a deal done.

In the end the Cardinals will lose a quality player, that should never have happened.

The Arizona Cardinals have not made the playoffs for a long time, and deservedly so for a reason.  That reason being their quarterback situation is a mess. 

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt reinterated again yesterday that Leinart is the starter, and Warner was the backup.  In a previous voluntary practice if you saw it you would have thought that not be the case.  Whisenhunt had Warner with the first unit offense, and Leinart with the second.

The games that Whisenhunt is playing is just plain dumb.  Leinart has worked very hard this offseason, according to the AZ Central.  According to Kent Somers Leinart has attended workout sessions regularly with strength and conditioning coach John Lott.  Also, he has been watching video with quarterback coach Jeff Rutledge.

What Whisenhunt is doing nothing, but hurting his team.  It is crucial for a young developing quarterback to develop a chemistry with his wide receivers.  If he does not get as many snaps as possible with them, then the timing will be completely off, and the results will be disaster.

If Whisenhunt wants to keep his job he better wakeup quick, because his actions are nothing more than that of a rookie head coach.  A head coach is only as good as his quarterback, and if his franchise quarterback is a failure he is a failure.

The Arizona Cardinals signed wide reciver Larry Fitzgerald to four year $40 million dollar extension.  Now, wider receiver Anquan Boldin is asking to be payed or traded.

Fitzgerald was an exception, becuase he had so high of a cap figure that the Cardinals had to rework his deal just so they can resign some other players of their own.  Since, his numbers were so high they were not able to do anything till they reworked his deal.

Boldin on the other hand does not make as much money, and is signed through 2010.  For him to ask for more money, considering that that Cardinals had to redo a deal just so they can have some money to sign their own players, and draft picks, is absolutely stupifying.  Like they really have anymoney to pay him.

The fact is that he should keep his mouth shut, and just play.  If he was to do that then the Cardinals would be more likely to pay him, or trade him, since he would have only one year left.  Then Boldin will have a big pay day.  However,  if he was to be a pain in the rear all season long most teams would be leary of giving him a big pay day.

With the Cardinals refusing to pay him or trade him Boldin just needs to shut up, and play.  After all good things come to those who wait.